A Canadian teenager was arrested for allegedly stealing C$46 million ($36.5 million) worth of cryptocurrency from a U.S. victim, the biggest crypto theft reported from one person, according to police in the city of Hamilton, near Toronto.
Police said the victim was targeted through a cell phone scam known as SIM swapping, in which a scammer hijacks a wireless customer’s phone number to intercept two-factor authentication requests and gain access to the victim’s accounts.
The arrest was the result of a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force, the Hamilton Police Service said in a statement. The investigation was launched last year in March.
The police department in Hamilton — about an hour’s drive west of Toronto — seized cryptocurrency currently valued at more than C$7 million.
Some of the stolen crypto was used to purchase a “rare” online gaming username, which eventually led investigators to uncover the identify of the account holder, police said in the statement.
The Hamilton teen was arrested and charged with theft over C$5,000 and possession of property or proceeds of property obtained by crime. The matter is before the courts.
